Use a free range or organic chicken if you can, get it.
Ingredients for Jamie Oliver Style Sunday Roast Chicken:
2kg/4.4 lb/ free-range chicken Streaky bacon
2-3 sprigs of sage, chopped
1 tbs of fresh parsley
A couple of rosemary sprigs
The zest of lemon
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 tablespoon of olive oil
1 quantity of Bread sauce (Optional)
1 leek, roughly chopped
2 carrots cut in chunks
2 parsnips cut in chunks
1 small swede cut in chunks
3 large potatoes cut in chunks and par – boiled for 4 minutes in boiling salted water, then drained, and shaken dry.
Pinch of salt.
Cooking Jamie Oliver Style Sunday Roast Chicken Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 200C/400f/gas 6
1. In a large plastic or roasting bag, put the oil, crushed garlic, herbs and lemon zest, and the chicken. Marinate for 3-4 hours, in the fridge.
2. Make the bread sauce and set aside. (You can make this the day before)
3. When you are ready to cook the chicken, put it into a roasting tray, and roast it for 40 minutes, then add the vegetables, the par boiled potatoes, a little salt, and a little more olive oil if required.
4. After this time lay the streaky bacon over the chicken, add all the vegetables.
5. Cook the whole lot together for a further 40 minutes, basting from time to time.
6. Test the chicken to make sure it is fully cooked, by putting a skewer through the thickest part of the leg, if the juices are clear then the chicken is done.
7. Set the chicken aside to rest.
Add a little cream or milk to the bread sauce and re-warm over a low heat.
8. Remove the vegetables, and deglaze the pan with a little boiling water, the juices from the chicken and vegetables should have enough natural flavour, season with freshly ground pepper, reduce to thicken the gravy, add a knob of butter after reduction, this gives a nice glaze to the gravy.
Serving Suggestions:
This is an easy one pot Sunday lunch dish, and will be lovely with a little creamy bread sauce.
Serves: 4-6
Preparation Time: 2 hours
Difficulty: Easy